Mr. Marc Coleman:

That is an excellent question, Deputy. Financial Services Ireland, FSI, was one of the first respondents to the Green Paper issued by then Commissioner Lord Hill in April 2015. I would like to think we were trying to lead the conversation in terms not only of the benefits to SMEs of having more diverse access to sources of funding but the benefits to the EU. One of the problems with the common corporation tax base is that it inflicts the disadvantages of tax harmonisation on Ireland but it does so without any fiscal harmonisation in terms of spending. We do not get any of the advantages. I believe it will fail because the political inconsistencies in the idea have not been fully thought through. Interestingly, were CMU to be established across the EU, it would help channel savings funds not only from demographic groups that have high savings - older citizens - to younger citizens that need them but from larger corporations to SMEs and start-ups that need them. It would also channel funds from regions that are wealthy to regions that need more investment. It is a means of achieving very important social objectives using a market discipline. It could also help Europe to emulate some of the United States' success in creating a very successful market for venture capital. We spoke earlier about Limerick. The Collison brothers come to mind as an outstanding example of what Irish people can achieve. They have achieved in California partly because there is a very friendly environment in America for raising venture capital.

The CMU initiative is a great project. The Commission has launched a half-time consultation on it, the results of which I have not yet fully digested. Obviously, the key champion of capital markets is now absent. I hope that, drawing on our great legacy as a team player in the EU and as a country that stood by the rules, worked with Brussels and the Commission, we could be a friendly voice within the EU, such that we will be able to say that while it may not have agreed with everything that Britain stood for in terms of financial regulation this is intrinsically a good idea for Europe because it will do all of the things I outlined earlier, such as channel funds from people who have them to people who need them. It could also be a great assistance to the eurozone because, without Britain, the EU is going to be much more like the eurozone. There will be greater similarities between the EU and the eurozone given that a capital markets union would help spread the shock of any recession more evenly across the EU.

If we can come at this debate again with a new pro-European set of arguments, we might be able to play a part because even though we are a small country we have a great influence in Europe.